Consumer Harassment

Your creditors have the right to recover the money you owe them. They may use debt collection agencies to handle this recovery. But you, too, have rights. As a consumer, you have the right to be treated respectfully by the debt collectors that contact you, and that includes the right to not face harassment from them. These rights are guaranteed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

As a consumer, it is important that you understand what constitutes harassment from debt collectors and what you can do if you face this type of treatment. Do not simply allow it to continue to happen – file a complaint with the Illinois Consumer Protection Division or the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consider filing a lawsuit against the collection agency to seek compensation for your related damages.

Specific Types of Collection Harassment Consumers Can Face
Knowing how to recognize harassment when you face it can help you put a stop to it. Examples of the harassment consumers can face from debt collectors include:

• Facing repetitive phone calls that become annoying or abusive;
• Facing phone calls during inconvenient times of day. Typically, this is after 9:00 p.m. and before 8:00 a.m;
• Receiving calls from collectors who do not identify themselves accurately. This can be done by refusing to answer questions about their identity or by misrepresenting themselves, such as impersonating a police officer or other government agent;
• Threats of violence or other types of harm; and
• Using obscene, profane, or abusive language with the consumer during phone calls.

Telephone Harassment

Because contacting consumers via telephone has become so commonplace in recent decades, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was passed in 1991 to prohibit companies from contacting consumers via telephone using prerecorded messages or telephone dialing systems without the consumers’ consent.

Despite this law’s existence, these calls plague American consumers every day. As a consumer, you may report these calls and have your phone number added to the national Do Not Call Registry. When annoying and harassing telephone calls cause you to suffer damages, you can take legal action to recover compensation for your damages.

What to Do if you are a Harassment Victim
Take note of the dates, times, and hours of the phone calls you receive. Also take note of the phone numbers used to contact you and what you are told by the collectors. Discuss this information with an experienced consumer protection lawyer to determine whether you have grounds for a lawsuit against the collector. You should also report your experience to the Illinois and federal authorities listed above.

Contact Consumer Credit Protectors Today
If you have faced harassment at the hands of a creditor or debt collector, you have the right to sue them and seek compensation for any damages you suffered because of the harassment. To learn more about your credit protection rights develop an applicable legal plan for your case, contact our team of experienced consumer credit protection lawyers today at (312) 909-6089.

• Fair Credit Reporting Act
  • Your Rights Under the FCRA
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
  • Unfair Collection Practices
  • Debt Collection Rights
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• Debt Collection Harassment
• Consumer Harassment